Teichaku was a terribly debaucherous place. He disliked the bustling night life that the growing city sold like products off a store shelf, yet it was what drew so many in, even from distant and foreign countries. There wasn't anything quite like it, not in the Fire Country, and not even Konoha itself. There were more people in the small city than even the most dense parts of the Hidden Leaf, making it seem so much larger and so much more populous despite hosting only a small, small fraction. Perhaps that was one facet of what he disliked the most. So many people across such a small area was disaster when the worst would happen. An era of long peace was what built the city, but peace would not exist forever.

Takao wasn't in Teichaku to take in the sights. He was lingering within the city for a specific purpose. Two agents of his had been dispatched, each with a specific purpose. One was a seasoned veteran, an old ally from his time in the Konoha Black Ops, who he had brought into ROOT to aid in the protection of the Leaf. The other was a novice, and this was his first time taking on an assignment without being shadowed properly. Both were given a task of varying importance. The former had the more important task of directly spying on particular individuals without their knowing. Given such individual's penchant for shinobi guardsmen, it would be a rough task to accomplish, but it was entrusted to him all the same. The latter merely needed to plant evidence. He already knew what these particular individuals were up to, but prosecution was not so cut and dry. Merely knowing was not enough, they needed proof.

Nightfall was their queue to move. Darkness failed to envelop Teichaku, the bright city lights and bustling nightlife kept it alive and brilliant, but the shroud of twilight would act as their cover all the same. They set about their tasks, the senior operative disappearing into thin air whilst the junior sank into the shadows, effortlessly slipping through the darkness of alleys and pathways.

He made short work of entering the house, one of two that evidence needed to be planted within, and released his technique. There was nobody home, he knew that much, so he went about his nefarious, albeit good-natured deeds. Papers hidden within other papers, particularly incriminating items and artifacts, convenient lapses in ledgers and alibis. Takao had planned it all out start to finish, when the evidence was planted, all that was needed would be to inspire the local police to administer a search, which would be easily done.

While it all transpired, Takao sat atop a building so tall he swore it touched the clouds. It wasn't as high up as the Hokage's faces, yet it felt even taller. From behind the cold black shell of his mask, bitter pools of ebony cast their scrupulous gaze down upon the city's decadence. He was dressed in black garb, from boot to mask, not a semblance of his scarred skin was visible. He didn't expect anything to go wrong, but preparing for the unexpected was one of the most basic facets of being a shinobi.

Bitter-cold pools of midnight watched from behind an obsidian shell as a shadow moved within the faint light of the window. His brows furrowed and eyes narrowed. This was the new one, the rookie, whose abilities were rough and talented, yet unrefined and unhoned. It wouldn't have been a problem that he let himself be revealed in the home, shouldn't have been, Takao had accounted for all of the shinobi in the area and all of the ANBU's deployments, and none were of particular note. But fate was seldom so kind to planning.

His gaze shifted to the wall nearest to him of the house that the ROOT Operative had entered some several hundred meters away. He hadn't seen who or what it was, but something entered the house behind him, and he could see their shadow moving through the building heading for the main study. He sucked in a breath. No ANBU should've been in the area. No shinobi either. Was it a rogue operative he hadn't seen and accounted for?

No matter, he thought as he stood. It would be a good learning opportunity for the ROOT Operative, and Takao himself was eager to see who had entered. He stepped forward off the edge of the building and planted his foot firmly on the vertical surface, mocking the force of gravity as he took a few careful steps down. His physical form flickered away from sight as light bent around him and to the naked eye, it was like he no longer existed. He charged a swathe of chakra to his legs and quietly burst from the building's outer surface, then used powerful bursts of silent wind from strategically placed jets at his back to carry him the rest of the way. He landed without so much as a shift in the dirt he stood upon, and silently walked into the house.

Inside, while Fuyuko searched the building, the Operative had seen her approach. From behind his mask, pale milkwhite eyes flanked by thick protruding veins had seen her approach. By the time she entered the study and snooped through the drawers and papers, he was gone.

Most of the papers on the desk lacked anything of interest. Primarily invoices for shipments, papers from ledgers that tracked various spending. However, there was one, a paper that was not native to the stack but looked just like any other, that Fuyuko pulled out. Its contents were incriminating, proposed some sort of malicious deal between the cities of Teichaku and Kasai, and confirmed quiet suspicions of deals in piracy.

Then, from behind Fuyuko, stepping out of the darkness like a sentient shadow shaped like a man half a head taller than her, the ROOT operative appeared. He quietly slid a kunai from his hand and took a careful, deafened step forward, then when he was within a meter's range, he thrust his hand forward and bent his arm at the elbow in an earnest attempt at snaking it around her body and holding it close to her throat.

"Who are you?"